Movie Review: Shutter Island
Reviewed by Geno McGahee
It was an impulse buy…that’s what it was. I was walking around Target and picked up several items, but there was nothing fun for me. I bought my son some toys and some household cleaning stuff, but zippo for me. I wanted to buy something. They had this display and there was SHUTTER ISLAND. I remember seeing the trailer for it and it looked sharp and they had it for $16.99, so I said “what the heck?” I was going to buy it on Blu Ray…the new big deal, but they wanted $26.99 for it. Since it was merely an impulse buy, I would not risk throwing away 27 bucks…just 17 if the movie stunk.
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) shows up on Shutter Island in the mid 1950s with his partner, fellow US Marshall, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo). They are investigating the place and the rumors that they are experimenting on the patients/criminals there. It’s a home for the criminally insane…and they are always fun, aren’t they? When you hear about a guy in a rabbit costume beating somebody to death, isn’t there a part of you laughing on the inside…sort of happy that it happened because it was amusing? Am I the only one?
I immediately liked the movie from the moment it began, but even more so when they first arrived on the island. As they walked around, these really messed up people just smiled and waved at them and some gave them the “Shhhhh” sign. I know calling the people “really messed up” may not be politically correct, but blame it on the actors in this movie…they came off really messed up.
A missing woman that was convicted of drowning her children is the focus of the investigation and as Teddy gets closer, it gets tougher. He believes that there is a big conspiracy and that a Nazi is running experiments as they did in Germany. Teddy has a traumatic past where he killed people in the war and lost his wife in a fire. He has an alcohol problem and uncovering wrong doing at Shutter Island may just help him overcome his inner demons, or so he thinks.
They catch up with Rachel (Emily Mortimer) and return her to her room. When questioned by Teddy and Chuck, she gets confused and thinks that Teddy is her dead husband. She begins kissing and hugging him and he gets confused. Perhaps his junk wasn’t working correctly this night. She eventually snaps and then screams “My husband’s dead…who the heck are you?!” The proper response would have been “I’m Leonardo DiCaprio bitch.”
Chuck disappears and Teddy believes the crew at the island is poisoning him. While out, searching the place, he finds a cave, where he finds what he believes to be the real Rachel (Patricia Clarkson). She tells him that there is no escape and that they are going to keep him there no matter what to hide what is going on in the lighthouse…the experiments. Now he knows what terrible thing must have befallen his partner, Chuck.
Teddy is on the trail of the bad guys, gets constant advice from his dead wife, and must overcome some crazies to find out the truth…good stuff. It was a little artsy fartsy for my tastes with the dream sequences and such, but it was such a great movie, I looked beyond that. It was a beautiful film, very sharp, great performances, great accent by DiCaprio, and a predictable trick ending, but it’s such a wonderful film, it didn’t matter what the ending was.
RSR Rating: 8/10. Great, but a little artsy fartsy.